The Haunted Mansion

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

It pains us to see Eddie Murphy stoop to such depths. Not that he’s been spinning Hollywood gold recently, but seeing Axel Foley resort to ripping off a Disney theme park ride for a movie premise? Joe Piscopo must be turning in his grave. Anyway, for you Pluto Nash fans out there, here it goes: Jim Evers (Murphy) is a realtor who puts his job before his family. When he gets a chance to unload a dilapidated mansion in the middle of nowhere, he jumps at the business opportunity. But when doors open on their own and tenants disappear into thin air, we suddenly realize that something about this mansion isn’t quite right. The ghouls who surface to protect their turf will scare the night terrors right into the target audience, while the laughs are few and about an hour and 15 minutes between. At least they timed its release perfectly to cap off the Halloween movie season.